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Trail blazing

Trail blazing

6 July 2009

Picture Australia and The Le@rning Federation (TLF) have created digital picture trails that blaze a path through vast tracts of Australia’s visual heritage.

Each of the trails has more than 30 images with topics ranging from Wild Weather and Mawson in Antarctica to Depictions of the First Australians, Cartoons and Caricatures and Advertising Australia.

These trails provide interpretation of some of the largest picture collections contributed to Picture Australia by collecting agencies across the county. They place this invaluable primary source material where it is most needed - on the computer screens and electronic white boards of 13 000 Australian and New Zealand schools.Manager of Picture Australia at the National Library of Australia, Fiona Hooton, said: “Present and future generations of Australians now have seamless access to the iconic images and issues that confronted past generations.”

“We invite everyone to blaze some of this nation’s greatest trails and enjoy Australia’s photographic heritage,” she said.

The trails have been curated by TLF researcher Charles Morgan, an education specialist with many years experience. He marks out the collective meaning of his curatorial selection with accompanying education value statements, which match key themes in the national curriculum. Mr Morgan is also President of the Network of Education Associations of Tasmania and the Tasmanian Association for the Teaching of English. The Trail Blazing project reveals the importance for students, teachers and all researchers of seeing these collections in relationship with one another.

Picture Australia, a program of the National Library of Australia, increases public access to Australian image collections and builds collaborative relationships with Australian collecting institutions.

TLF, an Australian and New Zealand Government initiative, develops online curriculum content for Australian and New Zealand schools and builds resources for the upcoming national curriculum.

For more information, contact:Picture Australia at the National Library of Australia on 02 6262 1198 orpictaust@nla.gov.au